TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) -Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner has settled on a combination of tape and a brace to hold his injured elbow in place and says he’s feeling good about being able to play Sunday at Washington.
“I did a lot more, was more comfortable,” he said after practice Thursday. “I had a little discomfort, but not a whole bunch of pain. So I felt good. Again, it’s just practice. You’re still just throwing and handing it off, but I’m very optimistic.”
Warner tore a ligament in his left – non-throwing – elbow early in Sunday’s loss to Carolina. With starter Matt Leinart out for the season with a broken collar bone, the Cardinals had to turn to Tim Rattay, who had been signed just a few days earlier.
This week, Arizona added a third quarterback in Tim Hasselbeck.
“Obviously we have to prepare the two Tims, so the bulk of our practice was concerned with doing that,” coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “Kurt did a little bit more today, but once again its going to come down to how he feels on game day.”
Warner tried several braces Wednesday before settling on the first one he used.
“They had some other ones that were supposedly some new age answers, so we tried a couple of those and they didn’t seem to work to well,” he said. “So we went back to the old school. It’s not only a brace, but really I think the biggest benefit is just a tape job. Old school tape seems to keep it in place. There’s not much movement.”
Wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald expects Warner to play if it’s at all possible.
“Anytime you hear `tear,’ that’s not good,” Fitzgerald said, “but Kurt is the ultimate competitor. He’s probably one of the most fierce competitors you’ll ever meet. You can’t tell by his demeanor, but he wants to be out there and he wants to win.”
If Warner can’t go, the Cardinals again will turn to Rattay. This time, though, Rattay will be much more comfortable.
“Just sitting in the Wednesday installation meeting last week, it was like he was talking French,” he said. “This week I understood, things were clicking. I feel a lot better in the huddle, at practice, knowing where guys are supposed to be.”
Fitzgerald said the rest of the offensive players pitched in to help Rattay as the game went on last week.
“We were drawing up plays in the dirt a little bit,” Fitzgerald said. “He was asking questions in the huddle, but that’s how it is. We tried to help him a long. He’s a lot better.”
There was some encouraging injury news. Two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin has practiced all week and will play Sunday after missing three games with a hip injury. The starting right tackle, rookie Levi Brown, practiced for the second day in a row with no ill effects and is expected to start after sitting out two games with an ankle injury.
Safety Adrian Wilson was limited in practice Thursday with a hamstring injury.
Linebacker Karlos Dansby is out with a knee injury. His replacement Monte Beisel led the team in tackles (10) in last week’s loss to Carolina.
“Karlos has been playing at a very high level for us,” Whisenhunt said. “There’s a lot of pressure on Monte to step in and pick that up and continue with that. He did a good job with that last week.”
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